Monday, August 6, 2012

Watch this space: Ngaio Marsh Award finalists announced tomorrow!

The judges votes, thoughts, comments are in, and the finalists for the 2012 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced tomorrow (Tuesday, 7 August 2012, NZT).

Currently there are seven excellent books, ranging from dark serial killer tales to 'ripped from the headlines' psychological thrillers, to books continuing the adventures of acclaimed book or TV series' characters, on the longlist. The longlisted titles are:

COLLECTING COOPER by Paul Cleave (Simon & Schuster)

LUTHER: THE CALLING by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)

FURT BENT FROM ALDAHEIT by Jack Eden (Pear Jam Books)

TRACES OF RED by Paddy Richardson (Penguin)

BY ANY MEANS by Ben Sanders (HarperCollins)

BOUND by Vanda Symon (Penguin)

THE CATASTROPHE by Ian Wedde (Victoria University Press)

It has been a very tough decision for the international expert judging panel, which this year includes writers, reviewers, publishers, and festival organisers from New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. When the longlist was announced back in early June, I said,“There was some exceptional crime, mystery, and thriller fiction penned by New Zealanders last year. It is great to see one of the world’s most popular forms of writing starting to flourish a little more on our own shores, though it makes our job harder.” Having gone through the judging process, that has certainly been borne out.

On a related - and important - point, readers all around the world also still have the opportunity to win a full set of the seven longlisted titles (see entry information here). So if you'd like to try the books for yourself, and see whether you agree with the expert judging panel's opinion, make sure to enter the draw.

So, who do you think will be amongst the finalists? Which is your favourite? Who would you like to see follow in the footsteps of Alix Bosco (CUT & RUN) and Paul Cleave (BLOOD MEN) to take home the impressive trophy - created and crafted by local sculptor Gina Ferguson?